Confident Brackets

We are days away from the start of college basketball’s phenomenal yearly tournament. I absolutely love March Madness and can’t wait to watch all of the games. The element that makes this tournament so captivating is the process of filling out a bracket while predicting the outcome of games. Guessing which teams will make it to the Final Four and which teams will pull the surprising upset is always entertaining. As we fill out our brackets, we are convinced that the matchups will play out a certain way. Some of us become so confident in our picks that we start betting and guaranteeing that games will end the way we predict. But if you’ve ever filled out a bracket before, you know how quickly the cockiness wears off. Even after the first game finishes most of us start saying, “Well, there goes my bracket!” Filling out brackets is humbling, but can be a reminder of how we approach the unpredictability of life. Although we know we can’t predict the future, we still have an arrogance about the "guarantee" of certain things happening for us. Whether it's landing our dream job or having kids when we plan to have them, or moving to the perfect neighborhood, we assume these things will play out the way we choose. Last week I wrote about the importance of preparation, and believe we should definitely plan and set goals. However, we don’t want to fall into the bracket philosophy of “my picks will come through” or “I know this will happen” when only God sees the big picture. James 4:13-15 challenges us with these words: ”Look here, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.’ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’” Although these verses are tough to swallow, they make us take notice that we aren’t in control and life can change in an instant. We need to view life with an open hand instead of trying to manipulate God or predict the way we think life should go. Today, with the NCAA tournament on our minds, let’s remember to be humble about the future as we desire God’s will for our lives...even if it means our life's brackets will most likely get busted. I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that! PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I’m sorry for being overconfident with my plans and my desires for the way life should go. Please help me to see each day as a gift, while remembering there is no guarantee for tomorrow. I pray Your will be done in my life and that I remain humble when I think about the future. Thank you for being there for me while life is unpredictable. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.